The Art of Loving
by Lil Rose Angel
Summary: Just a small one-shot about one of Francoise's small missions alone, and her thoughts. I wonder, is she going to get a prize for her hard work? Read and find out!


**A/N: Hmm, since I'm feeling unnaturally creative today, I think Joe and Francoise deserve a little happiness… After all, I think they suffer WAY too much at the hands of fanfiction writers! Especially _someone_ _coughVANESSAcough_ who KILLED Joe… Anyway, this is a short one-shot for them! **

**Title: The Art of Loving**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything… So depressing…**

Looking at the vast plains of land before her, Francoise sighed, resigning herself to her fate. Dr. Gilmore had assigned her to cleanse the Sahara Desert of Black Ghost's remaining servants, to finally rid the world of his influence. Sadly, no one was sent out to accompany her, all of the other 00 cyborgs each on his own cleanup mission. She was rather disappointed that she didn't get to go with Joe, they were usually paired together.

Come to think of it, Francoise hadn't seen Joe for the longest time—he was always on some mission or another, he was probably _wa-ay_ too busy to pay any attention to _her_! But…that wouldn't be completely right either. Joe just was the strongest of all of them, and naturally, Dr. Gilmore would send _him_ on the most dangerous missions. Even so, she couldn't help but feel left out, since she was the only girl on the team. The other cyborgs all considered her weak and fragile, and would usually discuss the most life-threatening missions without her. But you ask, how would she know this? Well, she wasn't a cyborg with enhanced senses for nothing!

Even so, she and Joe had been meeting nightly, in a secluded forest clearing far away from the rest of the other cyborgs. These constant rendezvous made her feel so much better about herself, it was a reassurance that she wasn't worthless. On the contrary, Joe made her feel needed, made her feel like she was wanted. She loved him so much…

She didn't spend one moment of the day not thinking about him, about his unruly brown hair, and the way it would slide over her fingers and tickle her neck. She thought about his warm cinnamon eyes, the look they held as they gazed into her tropic orbs, the way they would crinkle up in laughter, the lust-filled looks he looked at her with. She missed his affectionate, soft lips as they traveled from a heated exchange with her own to trailing over her face and onto her neck. They would place kisses all over her body, sending thrills of pleasure down her spine. Oh she was obsessed, alright._  
_

_  
_Yeah, she was just worrying too much. Joe wouldn't be the type of person to lead anyone on, he just too sweet for that type of stuff. It was amazing for someone with his history to become the wonderful person he is now. Even though she refrained from voicing her opinions, she seriously doubted Joe could've gotten an innocent childhood, even with the Father looking over him. Thinking this made her feel so guilty, it sort of doubted the care that the Father had for Joe, but she knew the Father loved Joe very much, and would've probably helped him have more of a childhood if he could. __

Immersed in her musings, Francoise strolled around the hot, unwelcoming desert plains with a faraway look on her face, not seeing anything around her. So caught up in her own thoughts, she didn't notice the sand whipping across her face, nor the shifting sand beneath her feet. Looking down, she saw a huge shadow growing in front of her, eyes widening with growing trepidation, she turned around, to be face to face with a dozen long legs, connected to a rather large, scaly body. Slowly, she raised her head and looked into the eyes of an abnormally large sand scorpion. Its claws were raised menacingly, and its eyes were narrowed, having a predatory look to it. If Francoise hadn't known better, she could've sworn the mutated scorpion's mouth was curled up into a grin, but it didn't take a genius to know what it wanted. Then, it lunged.

Dodging to the side, the blond cyborg scrambled for a foothold in the now rapidly sinking sand, desperately grabbing at anything that could be of use. Latching onto a nearby plant, Francoise held on for dear life. Surprisingly, it held, and she hoisted herself up and into the air, executing a graceful flip while doing so. The snapping menace before her, looked up, momentarily surprised by the loss of its prey. Taking advantage of this, Francoise locked onto the scorpions unguarded head, and fired five times, getting it in the middle of its eyes, and landed on the ground, satisfied with her work. Looking up, her eyes widened considerably, gaping at the monstrosity.

It was fine.

It took five bullets to the head, and was fine.

Spurred with renewed determination, she sped along the ground, dodging its precise strikes with its massive claws, and running directly under its belly. Setting it on "laser", Francoise shot all four of its legs in succession, revealing shiny metal surfaces under the "skin", and left a small hole in each. Immediately, the machine lost its balance, and started collapsing into the sand, with Francoise still under it. Having miscalculated the times, the petite cyborg was trapped under a mass of falling metal with no way out. Bracing herself for the impact, she raised her gun and tried to shoot a hole into the machine's midsection, so that it wouldn't squash her flat, but instead land around her.

Suddenly, it disappeared.

It completely disappeared.

The only thing that noted her of its presence was the resounding "BOOM" in the background. No, her attention was on something more…attention-grabbing. Something or rather, some_one_ that had just rescued her, and was holding her in _his _arms.Someone that had soft mahogany hair, warm cinnamon eyes, and wonderful, bubblegum pink lips, curled up in a small, sexy smile.

"Hey," was all that came out of those lips before they bent down and covered hers with a kiss that no one would have the audacity to call chaste.

**A/N: So, how'd you like it? Sorry if it's sorta weird, I was writing this on and off during the week, and tomorrow's my Chinese finals… Yeah, and I sorta am gonna fail, so I got distracted during the making of this one-shot… Sorry! I just wanted to put it up before I fail!**


End file.
